'Moyane is a serial lawbreaker'

SUSPENDED SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane is a serial lawbreaker, his conduct unlawful and his continued presence at the Sars helm threatens tax morality and could damage the credibility of the institution.

This is according to an explosive affidavit by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, which has finally revealed President Cyril Ramaphosa's case against Moyane.

Ramaphosa suspended Moyane in March and appointed Mark Kingon as acting commissioner.

Gordhan’s affidavit shows that Moyane faces four charges including failure to act against his former second-in-command Jonas Makwakwa and junior consultant Kelly Ann Elskie following a confidential Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) report into suspicious and unusual cash deposits into their bank accounts.

According to Gordhan, who was finance minister until March 2017 and responsible for Sars, Moyane failed to timeously ensure that Sars immediately conducted investigations to report Makwakwa and Elskie to the police and the Hawks to determine whether they were guilty of corruption and money laundering.

Gordhan said Moyane failed to brief him on the FIC report despite him (Gordhan) being the executive authority responsible for Sars and only issued Makwakwa, who was in charge of the taxman’s biggest revenue streams, and Elskie with notices to be suspended for four months after receiving the report and following media reports.

The affidavit also states that Moyane acted unlawfully by disclosing the contents of the report to Makwakwa and Elskie without obtaining permission from former FIC director Murray Michell as this is prohibited by the FIC Act.

Moyane is also accused of accepting “without demur” investigations by law firm Hogan Lovells and assurance, advisory and tax services by multinational PwC that were patently inadequate.

Moyane claimed he played no role in appointing eight debt collectors in a deal worth over R341million. One of the companies that got a share was New Integrated Credit Solutions, owned by Moyane's friend Patrick Monyeki.